1) Field of the Invention
The present invention has relevance to apparel, that can be manufactured, marketed, and sold, having interchangeable and reversible partial upper and lower sleeves, a waist section and a hood section, that would exhibit various colors and imprints on them that are outfitted with releasable affixing means.
2) Description of Related Art
Previously, as well as now, numerous pullover type articles of apparel such as coats, jackets, jerseys, sport shirts, and the like, were manufactured to be worn with customized imprints or imprinted patches having logos, insignias, messages, or visual illustrations of various sorts designed and made to meet one's preference. These desired designs and imprints, or imprinted patches, can be permanently placed on any of the above articles apparel on desired exterior sections by imprinting or sewing them directly on any suitable, selected section.
These previous art designs were and are limited in benefiting the manufacturer and consumer. To name one limitation, for example, suppose you purchase a coat, jacket, jersey, or sport shirt, which is custom-made to display the team logo of a particular team, which happens to be one of your favorites. Once you have purchased one of the above articles, that is all you get. You are limited to that particular article. Let's say you have five other favorite teams, which are in different leagues. If you desire to purchase one of the above articles to display the custom-made logos of your five favorite teams, this will result in you having to purchase five of the above articles. Purchasing five extra articles may be prohibitively costly for you and a waste of resources.
Yet another limitation is not being able to properly show your loyalty to all of your favorite causes or events because of inability or unwillingness to buy the requisite multiplicity of articles of apparel. It is well known that all true followers of favorite and noteworthy causes or events would like to display their loyalty to these causes or events via an article that is imprinted to depict these causes or events.
These limitations have caused others to discover and invent alternative methods whereby these limitations can be somewhat overcome, which will hereafter be briefly explained and described.
There are numerous inventive systems for removing and exchanging the sleeve sections of apparel. Examples of such are illustrated in the following U.S. PATENTS.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,122,873 (SHUSTER) shows a jacket construction in which an attaching means is concealed when the sleeves are attached. When the sleeves are removed a smooth surface is provided at the shoulder arm-pit portion of the jacket.
SHUSTER also shows in U.S. Pat. No. 2,677,131 a combination garment invention wherein the sleeves and adjoining sections of the body are made of one material and the remaining portion of the body is made of a different or contrasting material, thus creating the illusion of two separate garments being worn supposedly one upon the other, such as a shirt and vest, or shirt and slipover sweater. The garment has attaching means that will be flat and concealed from view when the side elements are secured to the balance of the garment, and also when the side elements are removed, so that a smooth and even surface will be apparent at all times around the points of joinder of the side elements to the main body element. The sleeves can also be interchanged by another set of sleeves.
JONES in U.S. Pat. No. 4,006,495 illustrate a coat construction having semi-detachable sleeves and pocket means for receiving such sleeves in their semi-detached condition. The user's arms can be removed from the sleeves while the coat is being worn, with the sleeves areas of the coat being storable in proximate storage areas provided interiorly of the coat.
SPITZ in U.S. Pat. No. 4,261,059 shows an inclement environment jacket and vest garment insulation-filled, having removably fastening sleeves, and retaining means for attaching the sleeves, when removed, to the inside of the jacket, thereby increasing the depth of insulation over substantial surface areas of the jacket. The retaining means may include fastening components constructed integrally with the removable sleeves.
Lastly, FITCHES IN U.S. Pat. No. 2,493,531, relates to garments, particularly shirts, dresses or other articles of wearing apparel to be improved. Variations in the appearance thereof, particularly changes in color, are obtained by the combining of sections in novel effects. This is accomplished by detachably connecting the sections of the garment, whereby a garment made of two sections, for instance, may have one section thereof replaced by another section of a different color, thereby causing novel and unusual effects in the garment.